


Would You Rather

by MightyTacos



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies), Would You Rather (2012)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crossover, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-03-20 19:29:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13724442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyTacos/pseuds/MightyTacos
Summary: In a hybrid of Pitch Perfect and Would You Rather, a torture horror film featuring Brittany Snow, Chloe decides to participate in a dinner game with the hopes of receiving help for her cancer-stricken brother. While constantly forced to make difficult decisions as part of "would you rather," Chloe meets Beca who ultimately changes how she thinks and plays the game.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a hybrid adaptation of Pitch Perfect and Would You Rather, a torture horror film featuring Brittany Snow. Snow's character decides to participate in a dinner game with the hopes of receiving help for her brother, who has cancer and is on the waiting list for a bone marrow transplant. The movie is based around the party game "would you rather," where players have to decide to partake in one out of two proposed activities/dares.
> 
> Chloe replaces Iris.  
> Beca replaces Lucas.  
> Jessica replaces Travis.  
> Aubrey replaces Cal.  
> Lily replaces Linda.  
> Cynthia Rose replaces Peter.  
> Stacie replaces Amy.  
> Fat Amy replaces Conway.
> 
> The first few chapters will cover the plot of Would You Rather with modifications for the original Bellas as a bit of context for the rest of the story. Otherwise, you can start at a later chapter.

"You're available to start right away?"

"Yes."

"I'm not really seeing a lot of restaurant experience on the, uh, resume."

"I've always had, um, summer jobs, but, yeah, mostly retail." The redhead shifted in her seat, knowing beforehand that her lack of industry experience would have brought problems when trying to get a job as a waitress.

"So, did you drop out of school, or... why'd you come all the way back here?"

"Oh, no, um...well, this is my home, and there was an accident, so I have to take care of my brother."

"Well, I'll tell you what I can do, Chloe. Um, I'll talk to the owner. I know they were looking for wait staff with experience, but... obviously you're smart, so maybe they'll work with you."

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Maybe you could host, if nothing else. I can't promise anything, but, um..."

"Oh, no, yeah."

"Maybe I'll let you know by the end of the day."

"Thank you so much."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice meeting you." Chloe slid out of her wooden chair by the bar at the restaurant she was interviewing at, trying to sport a smile while leaving with what remained of her dignity. She was trying to score a job,  _any_  job at this point, to try to support both her and her seemingly terminally ill brother. Her house was already up for sale and she planned to downgrade to a two-bedroom apartment in the hopes that she could keep up with a lease rather than down payments on a house. She tended to be taking care of Raleigh full-time nowadays, brushing past his self-deprecating nature and sarcasm to keep him afloat. She also worried about him near 24/7, which she found herself doing even on her drive back to their house.

"I'm gonna go back to the clinic for a little while today. Will you be okay here alone?" Chloe asked whilst entering the door, spotting her brother sitting across the kitchen island.

"Something wrong?" Raleigh asked, flicking his hand up to the baldhead that he concealed under his favorite green hoodie.

"Dr. Barden thinks that he can help us cut some of the costs."

"How?"

"I... I have no idea. But I'll find out."

Dr. Barden was someone Chloe had met by happenstance. He had heard of Raleigh's condition and wanted to help, using his close relationship with their city's hospital network to connect Chloe to a well-known fundraiser and philanthropist. As an oncologist himself, Dr. Barden was out of other alternatives, so when had been able to snag Chloe a meeting with the slippery celebrity in a spur of the moment, Dr. Barden insisted Chloe take it. Her appointment with the two men happened to be today.

* * *

Chloe found herself riding an elevator up to one of the higher floors of a hospital building, knocking on her new friends' office door with a tentative, "um, Dr. Barden? The nurse said that I..."

"Of course, come in." The man beckoned for Chloe to enter, motioning for her to join the two men already in the office. He flashed a weak smile, white teeth contrasting against his medium-dark skin. Across from Dr. Barden's desk was a patterned couch where a man in a gray suit stood up to greet Chloe, hand extended for a handshake.

"Chloe, good to see you. Shepard Lambrick."

"Chloe." She replied, taking his hand in hers and lightly applying pressure to solidify an attempt to appear less weak and desperate than she actually was.

"Dr. Barden's told me much about you." Lambrick began as Chloe took a seat in a lone chair alongside the wall. "So... your brother. He's quite sick, correct?"

"You can help him?"

"Well, let's just say that my foundation has the ability to improve his situation." He paused, straightening his tie before continuing. "The Lambricks have funded the building of clinics all over the world. Haiti, uh, Afghanistan... schools, too.

"Well, my brother doesn't need a school." Chloe added curtly, apprehensive of what a stranger could provide for the brother she had been taking care of for twenty years.

"You're right, absolutely right. My family, however, believes in creating opportunities for everyday people. People who just haven't received a fair shake in life... people like you and your brother."

"What do we have to do?"

"I'm hosting a dinner party tomorrow night, and I'd like you to join us."

"Just me?" Chloe wondered if Raleigh had to come as well, or if this was something she could work on by herself without having to get him involved.

"Just you... oh, but there'll be other guests there, individuals that we'd also like to help. And the evening will culminate with a game, of sorts, and the winner will be taken care of; bills, school, house, everything."

"What if I don't win?"

"Well, then, you just don't win. That's it."

Chloe looked at the two men with furrowed brows, prompting Dr. Barden to add: "This is legit. Mr. Lambrick saved my life. Not long ago, but before I met you and your brother, I was in the same position. I'd already lost my wife. I was on my way to losing everything... this practice, everything. I had no place to turn. I was invited to this event, so I went."

"You won?"

"He did, and I am proud to say that the Lambrick foundation came through on its promise." Lambrick announced, almost smug to add the man in front of him to his personal trophy case. "You can see what we might be able to do for you."

"Well, money would definitely help, but my brother needs a bone marrow transplant." Chloe hesitated, uncertain if this foundation could  _really_ provide for them. It's not like they could physically pay her in body tissue. "Do you mind if I think this over? Um, it's just... short notice."

"It is, you're right. Think it over, but R.S.V.P. by eight o'clock tonight if you do decide to join us and my staff will make arrangements to pick you up.

"Thank you."

"Chloe, when I say that we have the ability to dramatically improve your brother's situation, it's not just the money I'm talking about. You win the game, and we can bypass any waiting list and locate a donor, immediately."

"I will let you know." Chloe replied, bowing gracefully as she gathers her purse and leaves the office with a quiet shut of the door behind her.

As soon as she makes it out of the room, Lambrick immediately remarked, "she's perfect."

Dr. Barden contorts his face, afraid of disappointing Lambrick before saying: "I'm not sure she's right for this."

"What? She couldn't be more perfect. She's fighting for her brother, herself, she has no relatives, no family. No one to ask questions."

"Shep, she is not right." Dr. Barden suddenly felt defensive of the young redhead, knowing what sorts of things the game required.

"Let's just say I've appreciated your discretion over the last couple of years. Should I be concerned about this moment of weakness on your part?" Lambrick narrowed his eyes, challenging his cohort's opinion.

Dr. Barden felt the heaviness of his gaze upon him, knowing he had to reply carefully. "...Of course not. I'm fine." The two men crossed eye contact before Lambrick nodded with approval.

 


	2. Chapter 2

"This is the special du jour, pasta a la vegetables." Chloe slurred out, finessing a horrible fake accent as she waved around a bowl of pasta she had fashioned together for her and her brother.

"Um, okay, wow." Raleigh scoffed, arms crossing over his chest. "Chloe, that's a terrible Italian accent. And if it's French, 'monsieur' is not pronounced 'man sewer.'"

"Monsieur." She repeated.

"Monsieur." He corrected, rolling his eyes. "Come on, seriously, it's not gonna kill me to have some protein now and then." He took the bowl from her, plucking out noodles with his fingers before their conversation is interrupted by Chloe's phone ringing.

Chloe answered frantically, staggering out responses based on the voice at the other end of the line. "Hello? Uh, speaking. Uh-huh? Oh. Okay... Well, uh, wait, um, what about the hostess position that you, you... Oh. Okay, well, thank you. Thanks again." She heavily sighed, placing her phone facedown on the countertop before shuffling around some papers into a pile.

"You mad at me or something?" He asked Chloe as he looked up at her, a tang of worry troubling his eyes.

After a somber moment of silence she replied, "I thought I would be a match. I feel like I let you down." She referred to the difficult car ride home just a few days prior, when Chloe found out she was not eligible to be her brother's bone marrow donor. She remembered gripping the steering wheel almost in anger as her brother rested his head against his seat and stared out the window. She was perfectly healthy and they told her being related to the recipient increased her eligibility, so she didn't quite understand why she couldn't donate for him. Once the doctor said she wasn't eligible, she screened out his explanation about antigen typing and all the jargon that went with it. She didn't need the rest.

"You can't always be the hero." Raleigh interrupted her thoughts before stating matter-of-factly, "sometimes you have to let go."

"Like let go of you?" She sputtered, waiting for a reply. She knew better than to banter with Raleigh's life or death discourse. He pulled this behavior quite often, and the only one who seemed truly bothered by it was Chloe.

"I mean, aren't you sick of this? Taking me back and forth to the clinic. Bills, taking care of me, like, don't you want a life?"

"No. I mean, yeah, I... it's hard. But... Raleigh, you're my brother. This is my life. It's gonna be fine. We'll get through this." She reassured herself more than him. Raleigh didn't play along any further and picked up the portable gaming system resting on the countertop, resuming a violent shooting game. She sighed in defeat as she heard gunshots from the small speakers of his game. "Killing lots of aliens?"

"Nope, terrorists." He stuck his tongue out, thumbs slamming against the directional pad on his system.

"Killing lots of terrorists?"

"Straight up murderin' these terrorists, yo." Raleigh looked up, sensing that Chloe still had more to say than she was giving off. He paused the game with a sigh, knowing that he couldn't just be rude to his sister all the time when she genuinely was just concerned for him. He ended up prodding with, "what's up?"

Chloe needed some way to tell Raleigh that she was going to be out of the house for a while, since she now felt an obligation to go to the Lambrick dinner. Since the job at the restaurant was now a bust, her last resort was to try and win the mystery game. She didn't know exactly how long it would take so she pulled out an excuse: "Oh, um, I'm gonna go out tonight. I ran into a couple of friends from high school and I thought, you know what? I should go and unwind."

"Yeah, cool."

"So, you're gonna be okay here alone for the night?"

"Yeah. Got my meds, emergency contact. I'll just play video games or whatever. I could use the quiet."

"Great. Love you." Chloe almost whispered, leaving a tender touch to his arm before heading upstairs to get ready. She was already dialing Dr. Barden's phone number to RSVP for her upcoming night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe waited outside the front of her house, hands fumbling with the buttons of her pea coat. The building behind her was a humble two-story she and Raleigh called home – a property left behind by her parents who were both now deceased. Its sides were cloaked in beige with near-orange shutters, and an iron fence trailed down the side of brick steps that led from the front door to the sidewalk. Scraggly green bushes met a small wall made of the same kind of bricks as the walkway.  

Just at the time it was promised, a black Ford Crown Victoria pulled alongside the curb by the sidewalk, braking to a stop before Chloe. An exceptionally tall bald man wearing a black suit popped out of the driver’s seat, walking around the car to open the back seat for the redhead. She gave him a nod before settling into the leather seats. As he returned back to the front, the car pulled away and headed towards the dinner party.

“This is very pretty. Does the Lambrick family live here?” Chloe asked as the car drove up the cobblestone driveway of a seemingly large mansion.

“Not exactly. The property's owned by the Foundation. It's used for holidays and special events.” The man opened the car door a second time, letting Chloe out and motioning her to walk towards the front door. “This way, please.”

The two entered the foyer, which was adorned with a red Persian rug and a single wooden entry table. An exquisitely carved staircase covered both the left and right walls, leading to the upstairs level. 

“Dinner will begin shortly. You can wait in here with all the other guests. And please, help yourself to any of the provided refreshments.” The bald man instructed Chloe before announcing to the crowd in the next room: “Our eighth and final guest.” 

Prompted by the new person in the room, Chloe is greeted by two other guests who walked up to her with small drink glasses in hand. One was slim, taller blonde woman and the other was a small brunette whose paleness was heavily contrasted by alternative-styled makeup. 

“Lucky number eight.” The latter woman spoke, eyebrows lifting as she brought the glass rim of her drink to her lips.

“Does everyone get an introduction like that?” Chloe asked, slightly embarrassed by the seemingly loud interruption to the party.

“Oh, yeah, it's been very formal.” The taller woman shrugged, indicating she had been there a while to see most of the people filter in for the event.

“It's nice to meet you guys. I'm Chloe.”

“Beca. And this is, uh...” The small brunette blanked on the name of the woman next to her. Although they had been sipping drinks side by side for a while now, they never exchanged names.

“Aubrey.” She finished for her, nodding her head with a downward acknowledgement and flashing a smile.

Chloe looked around, observing the eclectic mix of people that filled the entryway of the mansion. “Have you guys been here long?”

“Not long. Couple minutes for some. Hour or two for the rest of us.”

“Are you both from the area, too?” Chloe wasn’t exactly briefed on the clientele of the game, and it seemed like she knew the least. She tried to see if she recognized anyone, even from a trip to the grocery store, but she came up empty.

Beca decided to answer first. “No, they flew me in from Seattle.” The relatively downcast climate of the city seemed to match her personality.

Aubrey answered with “Virginia,” and Chloe continued her mock interview, trying to get a grasp on the setting. “So, what do you know about the others? Anything?”

“Mm, a little. As you can see, they're not exactly friendly people.” Aubrey began, attempting to be polite about the people around her. Beca started to quip in little comments to accompany Aubrey’s, devoid of care for whether they were too sharp or blunt for a new audience. 

“The gal over there is Cynthia Rose.” Beca pointed with the hand holding her glass. “Supposed to be some sort of high stakes gambler from Vegas. Not that any of us have actually heard of her.”

“It's the way she made it sound.” Aubrey interjected.

Beca continued to go around the room, pointing to people one after the other. “Lady in the wheelchair is Lily. She doesn’t talk much. Kid in the corner is Jessica; she’s an Afghanistan vet.”

“What about the other girl?” Chloe paused her eye scanning, settling on a rather icy-looking girl with crossed arms and a deep frown. An innate sense of beauty regarding carefully styled makeup and hair was contrasted by her dismissive aura.

Beca squinted, challenging the likes of the intimidating brunette. “Her name is Stacie. Yeah she's a real charmer.” She finished with an eye roll.

“And the older lady?”

“I don't think I'd call her that.”

“Older?" 

“’Lady.’”

“Why?” The women looked relatively harmless with large features and bright hair that she flicked into a ponytail.

“Amy’s a bit of a sourpuss.” Beca finalized, frowning before sipping her drink again.

“Yeah, she's, um, she has some conspiracy theories about the Lambrick foundation. Don't get her started.” Aubrey made the mistake of talking to him earlier and someone else had to save her from the conversation.

After a few moments of silence, Chloe broke the air with a quick exhale: “Maybe I will have a drink.”

“Good. I’ll prepare you my very own specialty B.L.T.” Aubrey led them towards the self-service bar, putting down her own glass on the counter as she readied the weird concoction that could barely be called a cocktail. Chloe ended up taking the drink graciously, and the trio of guests continued to drink and wait around until further instructions followed.

* * *

“Bevans has informed me that the last guest has arrived. We ought to get downstairs soon.” Shepard Lambrick sat in a red leather chair that accompanied the rather ostentatious desk of his private office. Around the other side of solid mahogany was a punk-looking character wearing a white blazer over a gray t-shirt. 

“Do we have to sit through an entire dinner? Why can't we just get it over with?” The man whined in a juvenile tone, smacking his hand down on the armrest of the chair across his father.

“Julian!” Lambrick hissed with impatience, knowing this was a repeated conversation he had with his son every time they hosted one of these dinner parties. “That's not the way it works, as you know. There is a process involved.”

Julian waved his hand in the air before using it to rest his head. “Of course.”

“I trust that you will be on your best behavior tonight.”

“I'm not even drinking." 

“I'm serious.” Lambrick narrowed his eyes at the character in front of him. “The integrity of the game requires minimal participation on our part. We must remain an objective observer, even if one of these people is eliminated. Do you understand?” Julian nodded to himself. “And if one of them has to be removed from the game, Bevans will be the one to handle it. Your job, as a Lambrick, is simply to observe. You can engage these people with questions and conversation, but you will not so much as touch any of these people tonight.”

“I know.” Julian glared at him, picking at the end of his armchair.

“Julian. Look. I appreciate that you've taken an interest in the foundation... I do... but what happened last year was unacceptable.”

“For the last time, I understand.” Julian insisted, attempting not to snap at his father, the one who had continually let him join in on the Lambrick Foundation festivities since he was a teenager.

“OK, OK, OK. I won't bring it up again.” Lambrick put his palms up in compliance, figuring that Julian knew the gravity of the task at hand.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As we move on to the events of the game, I've rearranged a bit of the characters as you'll soon come to notice. The character lists as follows:
> 
> Chloe replaces Iris.  
> Beca replaces Lucas.  
> Jessica replaces Travis.  
> Aubrey replaces Cal.  
> Lily replaces Linda.  
> Cynthia Rose replaces Peter.  
> Stacie replaces Amy.  
> Fat Amy replaces Conway.

“We have one small matter to clear up before we begin. In the interest of discretion, and eliminating distraction and unfair advantage, we ask that you leave all possessions here during the game... Phones, keys, et cetera." Bevans spoke over the group seated in a side room, panning his eyes across the lot. 

“I don't like this.” Fat Amy said in a gruff voice, standing up from her position on a loveseat. “I don't like it.”

“I assure you they will be safe.” Bevans replied, holding out a bowl in front of Fat Amy. “These are the rules.”

Fat Amy glanced down at Chloe before giving a beady-eyed look at the butler. After failing to challenge his gaze, she reached in her pockets and placed her keys and phone into the bellows of the bowl. Bevans waved the bowl around to collect the other contestants’ possessions, who all hesitantly reached forward to place handbags and mobiles into the pile.

“Right. If you're ready, I'll escort you through to the dining room.” Bevans gave a curt nod. “This way.”

The group all followed suit, walking in a slow pace with Aubrey pushing Lily in her wheelchair. Bevans proceeded to slide a frosted glass door to the side, standing by the door as the ten entered the dining room. A delicately designed, wooden table resided in the center of the room and seats were laid around the table with a name designation for each guest. 

“Please, take a seat. Place cards have been provided.”

The group walked around the table, searching for their card before pulling out the padded chairs and sitting in front of utensils and a glass of water. Fat Amy immediately went to examine the windows before sitting down, pulling back the gold-colored curtains only to realize that no window nor glass were behind them, only the same ornate wall paper that lined the rest of the dining room.

Chloe examined her name card, looking over the printed letters before placing it to the side.

Shortly thereafter, Lambrick entered the room with Julian quickly following suit. Julian proceeded to sit at one head of the table whilst Lambrick stood at the end of the other.

And... good evening, everyone.” Lambrick announced, resting his hands on the table. I apologize if I've kept anyone waiting. Welcome to the Lambrick house.” He paused, before adding with an odd enthusiasm: “Oh, this is my son, Julian.”

“Hello.” Julian gave behind side smirk as the group all looked down the table to see Lambrick’s son. Beca went so far as to give a small, awkward wave from her seat. 

“Now, you've all met our butler, Bevans, and his staff, yes?” Lambrick pointed to the door, where Bevans was planted alongside another, taller butler. “Bevans. Let's start with some wine, shall we?”

“Dinner tonight is seared foie gras and rib eye steak with a red wine reduction, served with asparagus and garlic leek mashed potato. Enjoy.”

Full plates were placed in front of each guest, with some more eager to start than others. 

“Haven't had a meal like this in so long.” Beca muttered, cutting through the steak with quick saws of her knife. 

“Never had a meal like this, you kidding me?” Aubrey mocked.

Chloe glanced at Aubrey to her right and Beca to her left, noticing the contents of the plates before raising a tender hand halfway into the air.

“Mm, yes?” Lambrick caught the sight whilst gulping down some wine, stopping to grant her the attention.

“I probably should have mentioned this before.” Chloe began, starting to look down at the food. “Um, I'm a vegetarian.”

Julian immediately scoffs at the end of her sentence, moving to reach for his glass.

“Well, this is interesting. We don't have anything else in the kitchen, Iris.” Lambrick answered with folded hands, adding a half smile at the end.

“Okay. I, I don't mean to be a bother.” Chloe stuttered. “Uh, the potatoes are fine. I'll be fine.” 

“So, have you always been a vegetarian?” Lily asked meekly from across the table.

“Most of my life, yes. Long time. I just can't imagine eating...”

Lambrick paused his eating to interrupt: “I think... that we have just found our first opportunity to award some money tonight. Iris. I would like for you to eat the steak and the foie gras. I really would.”

“I can't do that.” Chloe responded with finality, shaking her head.

“You can... But you won't. Yet.” Lambrick toyed, pointing his dinner knife at Chloe.

“No, I really, I can't do it. I'm not trying to be rude. I just, I won't do it.” Shephard Lambrick had already been gracious enough to invite her for this dinner opportunity but crossing her own morals for the sake of a shock factor was something she could never do.

“Listen, I, I understand that it's not going to be easy. But I refuse to accept... that you don't have a price. $5,000 to eat the steak and this decadent foie gras.” Lambrick forked himself some of the steak, adding an exaggerated “Mmmm!”

He chuckled a bit to himself, chewing, before upping the ante. “Make it 10,000.”

The other contestants looked at Chloe, watching her face for any change in expression. Although Lily smiled widely at Chloe, Stacie glanced to the side with a mischievous smirk.

Lambrick instinctively placed a wad of bills secured with a rubberband onto the tabletop, repeating: “$10,000.”

Chloe glared at the money, seeing that the stack of money was composed of $100s. 

“What could you do with that?”

“You should eat it. Just close your eyes!” Lily spoke with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. “It's a lot of money.”

Cynthia Rose hummed in agreement besides Lily, chewing with a nod of her head. Chloe could only exhale with a scoff, fiddling with the fork in her right hand. After a moment, she glanced at Aubrey before switching the fork to her left hand and picking up the knife. She tore out a small triangle of the medium-cooked meat, darting it into her mouth with a grimace. 

Lambrick chuckled as Chloe struggled, instructing her to eat it with some of the liver also served on the plate. Chloe muttered to herself with a shaky breath as Stacie could only snicker at the sight.

“I can't believe I'm doing this.” Chloe sawed at the other food on her plate.

“Yeah, but $10,000 though.” Beca spoke to the disheartened figure to her right, trying to justify the means of breaking a vegetarian diet. 

“A lifetime of discipline and commitment to cause wiped away by a mere $10,000.” Lambrick guffawed from the end of the table. ”Well, that is nothing compared to what's really at stake tonight, I can assure you of that.”

Lambrick paused before watching Fat Amy drinking next to him.

“You don't like the wine?”

“Well, no, it's not that.” Fat Amy answered after a quick swallow, placing her glass of water back on the table.

“We can get you something else. We have some wonderful scotch.”

“No, no thanks, I don't drink.” She answered again with a nervous chuckle, cutting away at her steak.

“Oh... Oh, I see. You're a recovering alcoholic. Aren't you?”

Fat Amy maintained eye contact with him before replying thickly: “It's not your business.”

Lambrick only chuckled. “On the contrary. You are here essentially begging me for money. How is that not my business?” 

Fat Amy refused to answer, tonguing the inside of her cheek with a soft stare.

“How long has it been?”

“It's been 16 years, and I turned everything in my life around.” She finally answered with a sigh, addressing more of the table at large than only Lambrick. 

“But you haven't. Look at you. You're still mired in a pit of poor health and crippling debt. I'd hate to see what you looked like 16 years ago. I mean, really. What's the point?”

“Please.” Fat Amy insisted, short with annoyance. “Why are you doing this?”

Lambrick slammed his utensils back onto his plate, cutting the air with a sharp clank of metal on ceramic. 

“Because I want to help you. Look... It's safe to say that drinking is what ruined your life in the first place, isn't it? So, what if... drinking again could help you save it?”

“What?”

“I will give you $10,000 if you drink that glass of wine.”

“Oh.” Fat Amy finalized with a chuckle. “No. No, no way, no. You don't understand. You have no idea how hard I've worked.”

“Ah, but Chloe here, uh, she just devoured a pile of meat, and she's a devout vegetarian, and you won't drink a little wine.”

“It's totally different. Why are you doing this to me?”

Bevans dropped additional wads of money on the table next to Fat Amy, with Lambrick bantering: “$50,000. If you won't drink... this decanter of the finest scotch that money can buy, right now. 50,000.”

“This is what, a test? It's not real.” Fat Amy was sweating beneath her formal attire, aware of how many sets of eyes were watching her. 

“Oh, no... I am deadly serious, Fat Amy, and you know that I am.” Lambrick uttered with malice. “The glass of wine or the whole damn decanter. Now, it seems to me that the wine is... That's pretty simple, isn't it? But the scotch. Well, we could consider that a, a momentary lapse to... change your life.”

Fat Amy’s stirred in her seat, making out in a soft tone: “I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”

“So, what would you rather do?”

The blonde began watering at the eyes, looking at the options of alcohol in front of her. Lambrick’s gaze felt hot on her face as she reached for the fifth of scotch and ripped off the top with a quick pop. She cocked the container at Lambrick before guzzling directly from the bottle, taking several gulps before putting it back down.

Lambrick leaned onto the back legs of his chair, chortling with a slow clap. “That's a good time.”

“Thanks.” Fat Amy said curtly, taking another long sip.

“Bevans.” Lambrick called for his butler, ushering his staff to remove the plates form the table. “That was brilliant, as usual. My compliments to Marcel.”  
A few suited men cleaned the table within minutes before Lambrick stood up to initiate a toast. After a few taps of his knife on a glass, he began.

“Regarding tonight's game. Please allow me to alleviate any concerns you have.”

“We haven't already been playing?” Aubrey looked up at him in mild confusion.

“Oh, no, the game has yet to officially begin.”


End file.
